Sunday, February 15, 2009

A Nielsen survey of over 50,000 U.S. and European consumers gives the telecom industry reasons to be optimistic. Consumers intend to significantly increase use of mobile data services over the next two years -- with a significant ramp-up in the next 12 months.

The Tellabs-commissioned survey shows that up to 71% of consumers anticipate daily use of services such as mobile Internet. Yet mobile users continue to raise concerns about cost, speed and quality of service. The Nielsen survey analysed 10 mobile data services. It reveals that more than half of the approximately 200 million mobile data users in those countries expect to increase use in the next two years. Some other notes:

In the European countries close to 40% of non-users also expect to start using MMS. Italy tends to be the leading adopter across all services, while Germany shows comparatively low adoption rates.

Pressure on networks will be compounded as 41% of European and 71% U.S. respondents anticipate daily use of mobile Internet services. Mobile e-mail is on a similar growth trajectory, as it is increasingly available through a range of mobile devices.

The sustained increase in high-bandwidth applications and corresponding data traffic will create significant challenges for mobile operators looking to maintain profitability. Since most of the growth is expected within the next 12 months, this issue demands immediate attention.

"More significantly, according to the research more than a quarter of the millions of consumers who do not use mobile data services today intend to start using them shortly," said Jesse Goranson, senior vice president of Mobile Media, The Nielsen Company. "By delving deeper into consumer intent, the Tellabs survey comes just in time as the industry debates demand for services and capital requirements at MWC."

"Mobile data services are not a luxury, but a necessity that consumers plan to purchase despite economic conditions," said Pat Dolan, vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Tellabs. "By planning urgent and strategic network upgrades, operators can quickly and cost-efficiently address users' issues and meet increasing demands on networks."http://www.tellabs.com